‘Anti-Pantigate’ Bill to Stop “the litigious and thin-skinned”

Independent TD Stephen Donnelly has tabled a bill which aims to remove the the term “offence” from the Broadcasting Act as he believes its inclusion can be used to “gag free speech”.

Donnelly told the Dáil this afternoon that he is introducing the bill in the wake of the Pantigate controversy which he says, along with the current legislation, has already caused broadcasters to “err on the side of caution”.

“I don’t believe people should be censored for saying offensive things, whether or not that offence is reasonably taken or not,” the Wicklow TD told deputies.

“The legislation in its current form gags free speech, harms public debate and means broadcasters can be bullied by the litigious and thin-skinned.”